|
ASEAN Grid project
gets green light
Prutichai Chonglertvanichkul, the Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand’s (EGAT) assistant director for system planning and
transmission recently announced that Thailand is ready to go ahead with the
development of the ASEAN Grid project.
Prutichai said, “The AEAN Grid is a power pooling
project that will link key regional power generation sources to needy
neighboring countries. Local power plant operators can bring in bulk
revenues from selling their power to the project, while neighboring
countries that need power would no longer need to spend enormous amounts of
money to build new power plants. The project is an attempt to integrate the
power generating industry in the region.”
The project would divide the electricity transmission
linking areas into two zones. The western zone would be comprised of
Indo-china, Thailand, Malaysia, and the island of Sumatra. The eastern zone
would link Malaysia’s Borneo to Brunei, and the Philippines.
The first phase of the network linkage in the western
zone would involve transmission lines being built to connect Cambodia and
Vietnam. The next phase would involve connecting Thailand and Cambodia.
By 2008, power transmission lines would be built to
connect the Nam Thuen 2 power production project in Laos to plants in
Thailand and electric transmission lines would be built to connect Malaysia
and Sumatra.
EGAT Governor Sitthiporn Ratanopas said, “Thailand,
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia together needed
44,000mw of electricity in 2000. The amount is estimated to be valued at 710
billion baht. In 2010, the demand for electricity among these ASEAN
countries is likely to go up 91,000mw, or an estimated value of 1.4 trillion
baht. An investment of over 50 billion US dollars is required from ASEAN
nations over the next eight years.” (TNA)
Local auto industry forecasts growth of 70 percent
Thailand expects the production of cars and pickup trucks
to increase by 70 percent by the year 2006 as companies such as Honda Motors
shift their plants here. The government has forecast production of vehicles
to top 1 million units by 2006, from 584,951 in 2002.
During a recent auto conference Manu Leopairote,
permanent secretary at the Ministry of Industry said, “Consumer spending
is fueling Thailand’s economic growth. Low lending rates and demand for
new models has driven up car sales. Production is expected to rise as more
automakers such as Toyota Motors increase their capacity by shifting their
plants to Thailand. Honda Motor, Japan’s second-biggest automaker, also
plans to shift production of some vehicles from Philippines to Thailand.”
Thailand’s new vehicle sales rose 42 percent last month
to 42,751 units, a six-month high. Toyota’s sales surged more than a third
to 15,138 units, making it Thailand’s top auto company, with a market
share of 35 percent. Isuzu Motors was the country’s second-biggest
automaker with market share of 24 percent. (TNA)
Tesco-Lotus gives nod to
Thai local products
Tesco Lotus will embrace an idea to put Thailand’s
local products from the government scheme on its shelves not only in
England, but also in other branches throughout the world. Sunthorn
Arunanondchai, Chairman of the executive board of Ekachai Distribution
System Co. Ltd. which operates the UK-based superstore in Thailand said
Tesco President Sir Terry Lehey would help promote Thai local products from
the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) project at Tesco branches worldwide.
Sir Terry Lehey recently called on Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra to discuss overseas OTOP promotion and other trade matters. Tesco
has set up a specialized team to select Thai goods for selling at its
overseas retail chains. The export sale amounts to 3.0 billion baht each
year.
Thailand also supplies plastic bags for all branches of
Tesco department store. The figure accounts for 300 baht million a year.
The prime minister asked Tesco to help improve Thai
products in order to meet the world standard. (TNA)
Government tax collection expected to hit highest level in 88 years
The government’s revenues are believed to hit the
highest recorded level in this fiscal year, as the SARS impact affected the
government’s tax collection less than 1%, according to the Revenue
Department.
Subharat Kawatkul, Director-General of the Revenue
Department, said, “Total taxes collected by the department are expected to
reach 600 billion baht in this fiscal year, which will end on September 30.
This would set a record, making it the first time in 88 years - since the
establishment of the Revenue Department - that the government’s revenues
have reached this level. (TNA)
APEC: SARS must not be
used as trade barrier
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) closed with pledges to ensure that
SARS was not used as a barrier to trade or travel, and to establish an
ad-hoc committee to solve the problem of SARS and other new diseases.
APEC ministers issued a joint statement on disease
control measures in order to ease public fears and boost public confidence.
All countries where SARS had spread were asked to continue to issue
effective control measures.
In addition, APEC will not use SARS as a trade barrier or
as a barrier to travel, as no products in the affected areas posed a danger
to the public.
APEC also called on the customs departments of its member
countries to give import tax concessions for medical equipment used to
control SARS. (TNA)
Africa gets a taste of Thai rice
The Ministry of Commerce hailed the recent road shows in
Africa as a success, saying that Thailand had managed to sell contracts for
225,000 tons of rice worth over 1.6 billion baht, and would now conduct a
heavy marketing campaign to better penetrate African markets.
Wichak Wisetnoi, deputy director general of the
Department of International Trade, said that road shows by private and
public sector trade representatives to Senegal and South Africa had proved
fruitful, with valuable cooperation provided by both Thai rice exporters and
rice importers from the two African nations.
Trade representatives even demonstrated how to cook
famous Thai Hom Mali rice, generating considerable interest among the rice
importers, journalists and members of the general public.
The Department of International Trade is reassessing its
rice export plans and trying to increase global recognition of Thai rice.
Publicity demonstrations will be held various other countries including
China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South America, Dubai, Iraq and Iran. (TNA)
Household incomes in 2nd
quarter remain unchanged
Most people see their household incomes in the second
quarter remaining the same as those in the previous quarter, according to a
poll by Assumption University. The survey was made on “Economic Conditions
of Households in 2nd Quarter and Economic Confidence Index of Household
Heads” with a random sample of household heads in 23 provinces nationwide.
It found 59.2% thought their household incomes remained
unchanged from those of the first quarter, 14.5% viewed they increased while
26.3% said they dropped.
On the projection of household incomes in the next three
months, 61.4% said they would remain the same, 22.9% saw them increase and
15.7% viewed it would decrease.
The poll showed 41.7% believed the country’s economic
condition would improve in the next few months, 39.2% viewed it would remain
the same, and 19.1% said it would worsen.
On the employment for this year, 37% thought it would
rise, 30.8% said it would remain unchanged, and 12.1% viewed it would
decline.
On the projection of product prices for this year, 60.2%
believed they would increase above consumers’ purchasing power, 20.3% said
they would remain stable, and 5.6%% viewed they would drop.
The survey also found 26% remained confident of the
government’s economic stimulus package, 39.5% was rather confident, 17.3%
rather uncertain and 3.4% uncertain. (TNA)
37 percent of ‘chemical-free’
vegetables contaminated
They cost more, and they are marketed to target today’s
health conscious consumer, but are ‘chemical-free’ vegetables really
safe to eat?
Apparently not, according to a new study by the
Department of Agricultural Extension, which has found that 37 percent of
Thai vegetables labeled ‘chemical-free’ are in fact contaminated by
chemical residues.
Speaking at a recent conference organized by the Health
Assembly, Sakda Sriniwet, a Department of Agricultural Extension researcher,
said that despite the popularity and high price of ‘chemical-free’
vegetables, studies showed that 37 percent contained chemical residue,
compared to 60 percent of vegetables that were not marketed as
‘chemical-free’.
He noted that ‘chemical-free’ rarely denoted that the
products were truly organic, but merely that they had been farmed using
fewer chemicals than normal. Farmers are using a mixture of chemical and
natural farming techniques and he said the public must thoroughly wash
‘chemical-free’ produce before use.
Random inspections at the See Mum Muang wholesale fruit
and vegetable market showed that 70-80 percent of all the produce sold was
contaminated by chemical residue, despite consumer protection measures.
Dr. Thipparat Prathumporn, an independent researcher and
advisor to the Organic Farming Network, urged Thai farmers to turn to
organic farming methods, saying that in the long term such methods served to
reduce costs and boost the health of consumers.
A further seminar on agricultural chemicals and their
impact on health will be held in August, when the National Health Assembly
will draw up proposals to make to the government. (TNA)
“Thailand Exhibition 2003” goes to Vietnam
Around 145 Thai manufacturing companies will take part in
two trade exhibitions scheduled to be held in Vietnam in August. Organized
by Thailand’s Commerce Ministry’s Export Promotion Department, the first
trade show is scheduled to be held in Ho Chi Minh City on August 7-10. The
second exhibition will be held in Hanoi on August 13-16.
The trade shows will emphasize Thai products in a move to
promote and expand imports into Vietnam. (TNA)
No more gas-fired power plants, says EGAT
According to Sitthiporn Ratanopas, governor of the
state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) there will
be no more construction of gas-fired power plants. “From now on there will
be no more issuance of new licenses to construct gas-fired power plants in
Thailand,” Sitthiporn said.
Thailand is already overly dependent on natural gas as
its source of fuel for generating electricity. Nearly 70 percent of the
25,697mw of electricity produced in Thailand comes from natural gas-powered
plants.
“We can’t let gas go over 70 percent. Even countries
such as Malaysia, that have higher gas reserves, have been lowering their
dependence on gas for power generation,” Sitthiporn stated.
EGAT’s governor added, “In Malaysia, 76 percent of
the power generators use gas, which will fall to around 69 percent over the
next four years. Thailand must follow this trend and give out new
concessions to companies that only use different fuel sources. We have to
look for more gas reserves as the current ones are likely to last only 13
years, whereas our power plants require fuel sources for at least 25
years.”
Sitthiporn said that gas distribution operators such as
PTT Plc. could use the natural gas for other purposes that would add value
to their companies.
Sitthiporn said that the planned 16,000mw Salaween power
project located on the border of Thailand and Myanmar was another source of
diversification and that EGAT was willing to invest in the project entirely
on its own. “If we invest 100 percent EGAT would have the right to buy all
the electricity generated at a projected cost,” Sitthiporn said. (TNA)
SET to invest more than 6 million baht to ensure quality research
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will budget more
than 6 million baht to provide high quality analysts and research reports
for the capital markets in order to expand its investor base.
Chairwoman of the Executive Committee of Capital Market
Opportunity Center (CMOC) and Market for Alternative Investment (MAI),
Sopowadee Lertmanaschai, said that the SET will be giving 6.5 million baht
in financial support to the ‘Quality New Analyst Development Project’
and ‘Securities Research Support Project’ in order to contribute quality
analysts and quality research to the capital markets.
“The project will increase the number of qualified
personnel in securities research and establish better standards and quality
of securities analysis which is essential to support investment making
decisions. Quality information is a vital factor in stimulating more
long-term investment,” Sopowadee said.
The ‘Quality New Analyst Development Project’
workshop will be held for only eight days from July 26 to September 6, 2003,
every Saturday and Sunday, six hours a day and will focus on practical
training and discussions among senior analysts and trainees, covering a
variety of related topics. (TNA)
|
